About Wassili

Welcome to my site! My name is Wassili and I facilitate change in people, teams and organizations. I’m curious about how people learn, but also how people create problems, because there is a lot to learn from how they do that.

Ever since I was a child I have been curious about “how things work” and how you can make things better, more enjoyable and more efficient. I believe that people (and companies) have lots of qualities that they rarely or never use. Many of these qualities are often hidden behind problems and (unrealistic) fears. Because I would love for people and companies to really come into their own, I educated myself in how you ‘liberate’ oneself from all the obstacles that keep you from living fully.

I believe that people have two basic needs: 1. Meaningfulness 2. Mastery.

Meaningfulness and mastery

It is my experience that people want to lead a life that is meaningful, a life that has ‘purpose’. But that’s not all; people also want to be very good at what they do. We want to do the things we do ‘masterfully’. I’ve learned that people are not satisfied with just ‘meaningfulness’ or just ‘mastery’. People need both. That’s why I help individuals, teams and organizations to find ‘meaning’, and to translate what is so meaningful into the best behaviour you have at your disposal. When people manage to do that, they often feel great and everything seems’ to happen by itself.

I research and innovate constantly and am curious about what really works.

I have a passion for nature and all that exists in it and that is why I am Climate Leader in Al Gore’s Reality project. A group of 1000 leaders from around the world who spread awareness about the impact of climate change and how we can reverse things for the good. We all need a well functioning environment, so this is partly also self interests.

There is plenty to read and learn so take the time to browse the site. If something you read stirs questions please feel free to contact me. Have fun!

Dedicated to making a difference

To bring purpose and meaningfulness together with someone’s best qualities is crucial for a happy and (success) full life and long-term business success. Why? Nobody is made to ‘just’ work without any deeper meaning and nobody is made to ‘just’ have beautiful dreams without the means to turn them into action. Steve Jobs also realized that ‘an artists can consider himself successful only when his art is also sold.’

"Wassili Zafiris is a pioneer and innovator in the world of NLP. His drive for research, development and well-grounded work is shown in his many publications, methods and techniques he developed as a specialist in ‘change’."

Mission

People have three ‘deep’ drives: autonomy, mastery and purpose. To live (success) fully I strive to facilitate all three resources on an individual- as well as organizational level. The art of transforming deep human drives into mastery is one of the most satisfying things to do. It is my experience and conviction that when people can do what they consider of utmost importance, they will naturally contribute to not just satisfy their own needs and desires, but also those of the people around them and the system they are part of. This is how meaningful success comes about!

Vision

The biggest vision I have about my contribution in this is that ‘human nature’ will become the focal point once again. In this way people will ‘do the right thing’ and live fully. I want to achieve that people live meaningful lives, full of challenge, balance and…success! At the ‘lowest’ level (of Maslow) this means that I help individuals and organizations to free themselves from the limitations of scarcity needs, scarcity thinking and acting. At the ‘highest’ level I facilitate ‘man’s search’ for the most important values and meanings to, in the end, merge these into ‘meaningful- success’. Eventually this is a co-creation of a future we all want to belong to.

"An artists can consider himself successful only when his art is also sold."

Steve Jobs

Values

I value playfulness and view growth and change through the perspective of optimistic pessimism (the ability to see ‘what is’ without fear and deal with it). Depth: because I want to facilitate change that ‘sticks’. Challenge: because I believe that if you want to experience Flow in work and life one needs challenge. Sustainable growth: because that is part of our nature.

UPDATE

What is Happiness anyway?

My new book 'Happiness is Depressing' is out (only in Dutch for now)! It's the first book that coaches you from depression to a state of Happiness. In HiD I look at what happiness really is when you feel depressed. 300 pages of inspiration, eye-openers and 7 exercises to transform your inner experience. If you're looking for happiness or if your just plain down, you have got to read this ground breaking book. Coaches and therapist can learn the newest techniques.
HAPPINESS IS DEPRESSING ANSWERS 2 MAIN QUESTIONS:
How do you go from depressed to zest for life?
How can the coaching approach create non-therapeutic but effective models for profound change with depression?